Michael Allarton and his husband Dan Jay had no warning when the floods hit.

They were woken at 5.30am in the morning to step into water cascading through their ground floor riverside flat.

“It had come on in hours. We couldn’t take anything, we just had to get ourselves safe. It was so traumatic.”

Then the misery of seeing their home and all their belongings flooded was made worse by the fact that they had nowhere to go.

“The council were struggling to find places for everyone.”

It was then that ‘hero’ Stuart Haye stepped in and offered Michael and Dan a temporary lifeline.

Stuart runs Haye Farm at Bewdley and, apart from cattle and sheep, offers accommodation in a converted barn.

When Michael mentioned his plight, Stuart immediately offered him shelter while a more permanent solution was found.

“He helped us out when we were in need. It was a wonderful thing to do, especially when he had so many other things to deal with.”

But that is far from the only reason Michael has nominated Stuart for Farming Hero of the Year in the Three Counties Farmer annual awards.

“He’s quiet and unassuming and people don’t realise how much he does.”

Stuart has set up a chicken share scheme which allows a small group of local people to keep chickens, and he is also busy organising school visits to the farm.

“He loves educating children and seeing them have a great day out on his farm.

He’s passionate about his Dexter Cattle and Wiltshire sheep, and has a holistic approach to farming.

“He loves the planet and looks after it the best that he can.”

The Farming Awards ceremony takes place in digital format – because of coronavirus - in November.

Entries are open now and to nominate just go to https://www.herefordtimes.com/awards/tcf/ and fill out the online form.

Categories are: Farming Hero; Sheep Farmer; Farm Conservation; Cattle Farmer; Family Run Farm; Pig Farmer; Young Farmer (under 26); Arable Farmer; Farming Contractor; Fruit/hop farmer.